The George Gordon Byron papers
consist of manuscripts, letters, an account book, engravings, handwritten musical
scores, wills and other documents, and clippings, all ranging in date from 1642
to
1968, with the majority dating from 1798 to 1830.

The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities
Research Center

George Gordon Byron was born in London on January 22, 1788, the son of John "Mad Jack" Byron and Catherine Gordon. His father,
having spent his wife’s inheritance, eventually left for France, where he died
when
Byron was three. Byron and his mother lived in Aberdeen until he became the sixth
Baron Byron of Rochdale upon the death of his great uncle, William John Byron,
in
1798. At that point, mother and son returned to England and lived briefly at the
ancestral estate, Newstead Abbey. John Hanson, the family’s solicitor, brought
Byron
to London for professional treatment of his clubbed foot and enrolled him in school
in Dulwich. Byron attended Harrow from 1801 to 1805, then Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he received his degree in 1808.

Byron had his first book of poetry, Fugitive Pieces,
privately printed by John Ridge in 1806. Because friends, particularly Reverend
Thomas Becher, criticized the work’s eroticism, he suppressed its publication
and
revised it as Poems on Various Occasions (1807). The
work continued to be revised and was published publicly first as Hours of Idleness, A Series of Poems, Original and
Translated (1808), with a second edition, revised, appearing in 1808. An
unfavorable review of Hours of Idleness spurred Byron
to write his first major poetic work, English Bards, and
Scotch Reviewers (1809), a satirical jab at critics and poets of the day
that also expressed his admiration of neoclassical poets such as John Dryden and
Alexander Pope.

Byron toured the eastern Mediterranean from 1809 to 1811, writing Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812) along the way. The 500
copies of the first edition of Childe Harold,
published by John Murray, sold out in three days, and Byron found himself famous
overnight. The most popular poet of his day, Byron is still considered the
embodiment of English Romanticism. Over the next few years he published six Romantic
verse narratives: The Giaour (1813), The Bride of Abydos (1813), The
Corsair (1814), Lara (1814), and The Siege of Corinth and Parasina (1816). All of these
were well received. Murray continued as Byron’s publisher until 1823.

Byron’s intriguing private life contributed to his popularity. He had affairs with
numerous women and a few men; the most scandalous was with Lady Caroline Lamb.
He
also may have had a physical relationship with his half sister, Augusta Leigh,
to
whom he was especially close. In 1815, Byron married Anne Isabella (Annabella)
Milbanke. When Annabella’s uncle, Lord Wentworth, died later that year, the
Milbankes changed their name to Noel as his will directed. Byron also added the
name
Noel, becoming George Gordon Noel Byron. Byron’s severe financial difficulties
caused him to drink heavily and become hostile to family members, particularly
his
wife. In 1816, Annabella left him, taking their infant daughter, Augusta Ada Byron,
to her parents’ home. Charges of cruelty and adultery were augmented by rumors
of an
incestuous relationship with Augusta Leigh, and Byron agreed to a legal separation.
He left England for Switzerland, where he was met by fellow poet Percy Bysshe
Shelley, his wife Mary Godwin, and Godwin’s stepsister Claire (Jane) Clairmont,
who
was pregnant with Byron’s child (Clara Allegra, who died at age five). Byron and
Shelley developed a close friendship, and Byron wrote several poems during this
time, including "The Prisoner of Chillon" and
"Prometheus." These were followed by Manfred (1817), a Faustian tragedy.

After spending four months in Switzerland, Byron traveled to Italy, where he spent
the next seven years. Experimenting with a new style (verse in ottava rima), he
wrote Beppo (1818), which was a more lighthearted
work than his previous writings. This style was repeated in his acclaimed Don Juan, an epic satire left unfinished at the time of
his death. He also wrote several dramas, including Sardanapalus, The Two Foscari, and
Cain, A Mystery (1821), which reflected his
growing interest in political issues.

In Italy, Byron initially led a life of debauchery, but in 1819 he formed a lasting
attachment with the Countess Teresa Guiccioli. In July 1823, Byron sailed for
Greece
to assist with the war of independence from the Turks. He caught a fever, was
bled
with leeches, and died on April 19, 1824.

"The Byron Chronology: A Romantic Circles Scholarly
Resource," University of Maryland,
www.rc.umd.edu/reference/chronologies/ (accessed January 2007).

The George Gordon Byron papers consist of manuscripts, letters, an account book,
engravings, handwritten musical scores, wills and other documents, and clippings,
all ranging in date from 1642 to 1968, with the majority dating from 1798-1830.
The
material is organized in three series: I. Works and Personal Papers, 1805-1829,
1968, undated; II. Correspondence, 1798-1832, 1859, undated; and III. Third Party
Correspondence and Manuscripts, 1642, 1761, 1782-1872, 1896-1949, undated. This
collection was previously accessible through a card catalog but has been
re-cataloged as part of a retrospective conversion project.

The Works series is arranged alphabetically by title. While most of the manuscripts
are in Byron’s hand, some are copies in the hand of his wife, Anne Isabella Milbanke
Byron, and other persons. Typescript copies are also present. Among Byron’s
manuscripts are Cain, A Mystery; Canto VIII and Canto
IX of Don Juan; The Island:
Or, Christian and His Comrades; Ode to Napoléon
Buonaparte; Sardanapolus; and The Siege of Corinth. English
Bards, and Scotch Reviewers is represented by a handwritten fragment by
Byron, as well as a bound copy in an unidentified hand; an 1817 bound copy in
an
unidentified hand of the fourth edition; and a printed book interleaved with
pasted-in autographs, manuscript notes, portraits of well-known authors, and copies
of poems about Byron dating from 1812-1819. Many of Byron’s short poems are present,
including "Childish Recollections,"
"I Saw Thee Weep,"
"To a Knot of Ungenerous Critics," and "To E. N. Long." Also included are an account book
dating from 1819 to 1820, with additional entries by Teresa Guiccioli, and a draft
and final copy of Byron’s 1811 will.

The Correspondence series is divided into two subseries: A. Letters, 1806-1831,
undated; and B. Bound Letters, 1798-1832, 1859, undated. Subseries A consists
of
Byron’s outgoing letters, with the exception of letters from Thomas Denman to
his
sister, Joseph Jekyll to Thomas Ryder, and Georg Freiherr von Ompteda to _____
Delafield, all located with Byron’s letter to John Jackson. Subseries B., Bound
Letters, consists of letters by Byron and others, bound together or formerly bound
together, and contains some items other than letters. Most of the bound letters
are
outgoing letters from Byron, but Letters I includes letters from Teresa Guiccioli
to
Marguerite Blessington, Caroline Lamb to Sydney Morgan, Judith Wentworth Noel
to
James Burges, a pencil drawing by Caroline Lamb, manuscripts by Byron, and two
locks
of Byron’s hair, as well as engravings and an illuminated history of Newstead
Abbey.
Included with Byron’s letters in Letters III are letters from Lady Byron to Anna
Jameson, Emily Milner, and Lady Portsmouth; from Catherine Gordon Byron to Augusta
Leigh and James Farquhar; from Charlotte Williams to her uncle; from Lega Zambelli
to Geo. Batta Missiaglia; and manuscript poems by Lady Byron. Incoming letters
to
Byron from Edward Dawkins, _____ Storiferri, and John Taaffe, as well as letters
between those men, Lorenzo Collini, W. Dunn, Captain John Hay, Marquis Mansi,
and
Lega Zambelli, all regarding the Pisan Affray, are bound together in Letters IV.
Letters V includes, besides letters by Byron, letters by R. Goddard and Caroline
Lamb to Sydney Morgan, a note by Lady Morgan, a handwritten charter of the brig
"Hercules" by Byron and John Scott, artwork of
Greek revolutionaries by Henry Martin, and a manuscript of Byron’s translation
of
Riga’s "War Song of the Greeks." Letters VI
includes letters from Byron to Daniel Roberts and James Holmes regarding the death
of Percy Bysshe Shelley, as well as engravings of the poets and clippings about
Shelley. In Letters VII, a letter from Catherine Gordon Byron to John Hanson is
located with letters from Byron to John Ridge, William John Bankes, and an
unidentified recipient regarding his Poems on Various
Occasions and Hours of Idleness, as well
as an illustration of Byron at Cambridge. Letters II and Letters X through XIV
all
contain only letters from Byron, including one from Byron to Daniel Roberts
regarding Shelley’s death.

Series III., Third Party Correspondence and Manuscripts, includes letters and
manuscript poems by Anne Isabella Milbanke Byron; correspondence by Catherine
Gordon
Byron; musical manuscripts by Thomas Hastings, including the opera he composed
based
on Byron’s Manfred; and a manuscript by Elizabeth
Bridget Pigot of "The Wonderful History of Lord Byron
& His Dog," as well as correspondence by other individuals.
Within numbered miscellaneous groups, there are letters from Augusta Leigh to
Anne
Isabella Milbanke Bryon, Francis Hodgson, and others; letters regarding Byron’s
birth; letters from Teresa Guiccioli regarding Byron; a bound collection of poems,
articles, and other materials relating to Byron; and letters from Anne Isabella
Milbanke Bryon, primarily to her friend Harriet Siddons.

A complete Index of Correspondents in the Byron archive is located at the end of this
inventory. All works by Byron and others are listed in the Index of Works.

Other materials relating to Byron at the Ransom Center may be found in the Prints
Collection as well as the Augusta Leigh, Walter Scott, and Percy Bysshe Shelley
manuscript collections and the Stark Collection of books.

An 1823 pencil sketch of Byron by Alfred Guillaume Gabriel D’Orsay and an 1824 oil
on
ivory painting by G. H. Harding of Byron dressed in Greek costume have been removed
to the Center’s Art Collection.